A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the automatic production of armatures for small electric motors. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus in which armatures for small electric motors are continuously produced in a production line assembly.
B. State of the Prior Art
In some armature manufacturing devices, it is possible to wind several armatures simultaneously with the feed and the winding being affected automatically. One form of such a machine is an automatic turntable winding machine used in combination with an automatic or semi-automatic ancillary installation. Other embodiments of armature manufacturing devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,920,129 and 3,980,184 in which the armatures are not only wound but also welded, balanced, electrically tested and thus completely finished on a transfer line in a single working cycle.
In all of the manufacturing installations heretofore, the individual devices for processing the armature represent individual units with the work being transported to and removed from the unit by feeder installations after each individual processing step. Storage facilities are also required between the individual processing units. The use of individual processing units requires the intermittent starting and stopping of the equipment which may introduce sources of errors into the system. In addition, a significant disadvantage of these systems is that they require ancillary installations such as the feeder installations and the storage facilities which are relatively expensive and space consuming.